All Roses Have Thorns
by Lythrien
Summary: Hermione's never thought much of Draco, never spared him more than a scornful glance. Draco always thought of Hermione as an annoying, know it all mudblood. Suddenly they find their own eyes tripping over each other and fast heartbeats. Dramione HrD


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Disclaimer: I do, of course, not own Harry Potter, or any of those characters, and I don't claim to either. I merely write fan fictions with these characters for my own pleasure... and for others.  
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Chapter 1

The fire crackled merrily in the fireplace as three teenagers sat in the best three chairs in the common room. The two boys were focused on a not-so-violent game of wizard's chess, one, sporting a lightning scar on his forehead, was mumbling aggressively while the other, with flaming red hair and freckles dotting his face, was wearing a very triumphant grin. The third chair was occupied by a girl with long, bushy brown hair hanging loosely about her shoulders. She was balancing an open textbook her knees and in her hands was a piece of parchment cramped with tiny words. However, presently, her attention was fixed on the two boys, a tiny frown etched on her forehead.

"Harry, Ron, do you absolutely have to play that horrible game?" she asked disapprovingly.  
"Relax, Hermione, nothing bad has happened yet, has it?" The red-haired boy said as his queen smashed one of the opponent's pawns.  
"Ron you're so..." the girl, apparently Hermione, was clearly unable to find a suitable word. Ron snorted, and moved his attention back on the game. The third boy, Harry, glanced hopelessly at the chessboard, a battle clearly lost, and then at his two best friends, Hermione's head being promptly turned away from Ron, who was egging a chess piece on. A battle just as lost as the chess game.

"So... Are you two staying at Hogwarts for Christmas?" he asked cheerily, hoping to brighten the mood. Unfortunately this didn't happen.  
"Yeah." replied Ron indifferently. This was followed by a more feminine snort than Ron's previous.  
"Unfortunately." came Hermione's muttered reply. She put down the parchment, finally satisfied with her essay on how the goblin rebellion had changed the present day life of an average witch or wizard, that was their History of Magic homework. She snapped the textbook shut and laid it on the table. Picking up the ginger cat that was winding itself between her legs, she settled it comfortably in her lap and turned back to the two boys who were still concentrated on the game.

"You two should get a move on, it's not long until the essay is due, and I'm not helping you out." she said irritably. Once again Ron replied first.  
"Hermione, it isn't due until the day before Christmas break"  
"And Christmas break is only one week away. One week isn't very long, Ron." Hermione cut in.  
"Oh, I'm sure I can manage my time schedule perfectly well without your help, Hermione!" he snapped angrily, "Right Harry"  
"Ummm... Yeah..." Harry hesitated, not wanting to get involved. Hermione shot out of her armchair, sending a hissing Crookshanks, the ginger cat, crashing to the floor, her face flushed in anger.  
"Well, then don't come crying to me, one day before it is due, because I am certainly not going to help you!" her loud, angry voice made people turn and stare. She stormed out of the common room in rage, smacking the painting of a very fat, pink-clad lady, that hid the Gryffindor common room, shut aggressively, and didn't apologize when the lady called after her.

Hermione let her feet take the well-known path to the library. Tears pushed their way down her cheeks, and before she could bury herself in a book a flood of tears were already splashing to the ground. Madam Pince, the Librarian frowned disapprovingly at the 6th year student who had so many times returned to a the library in such a state. She never got used to it, though. Hermione let the tears fall freely, and the cry lasted shortly. All of her frustrations with Ron, and even Harry, had finally built up too much pressure, and it felt good to be rid of it. Pacing among the shelves of the library, she finally found a book, and slid it out to leaf through it and see if it was interesting. The book proved itself worthy and she sat down at a dusty table and read in the darkly lit library. She managed to lose herself in the book completely before the Librarian came to shoo her out of the closing library.

Hermione checked her watch. She had only used an hour in the library, it was only 10:30 P.M, Harry and Ron were bound to still be awake, on a Saturday evening. Clutching the book in her hands, she marched through halls. It was almost past curfew so she really had no choice, but to return to the common room, and possibly have to face Ron. Muttering an apology for her previous behavior to the Fat Lady in the portrait, she entered the common room. It had cleared up considerably in the hour she had been away, but she recognized the top of red hair, that you just see over the top of an armchair, as Ron's. Fortunately for Hermione the two chairs that her friends were occupying faced away from the entrances to all the dormitories, they need not see her. Making her way quietly across the room, to the stairs of her dormitory, she hurried up them and through the door.

Once it was shut behind her she breathed a sigh of relief. She dropped the book she was holding on her own four poster bed, and began changing into her pyjamas. She could hear Parvati and Lavender's whispered conversation about boys and gossip, from Parvati's bed, stop at the noise of the shutting door, and she saw them peak out at her from the bed and then heard them resume their whispering. Hermione lay down in her bed and opened her book, but she could not read. She had too much to think about. '_Why did Ron have to be such an idiot?_' Her thoughts circled around Ron for along time, but eventually moved on to her homework. She did not fall asleep until long after Lavender had almost noiselessly crept back to her own bed.

When Harry and Ron came into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning Hermione was already sitting in her favored spot at the Gryffindor table, with the book she had borrowed from the library yesterday, propped up against a flask of pumpkin juice. Her attention however was turned on the newspaper in her hand, that had, by the looks of it, just arrived with the daily owl post. Once Harry had uttered his good morning and sat down beside to her she replied cheerily and readjusted her attention on the book, thrusting the newspaper into his hand and taking a small bit of the toast on her plate. She gave Ron one icy look as he sat down next to Harry, then continued ignoring him. Intent on her book, she barely looked up in time, when she heard the clatter of dropped cutlery, to see Ron diving under the table for the knife for he had 'dropped'. Seconds later they were joined by Lavender.

"Oh," she said as she slipped into the seat Ron had previously occupied. "I'm sure I saw Ron here just a minute ago." she finished sounding slightly downcast. She helped herself to a piece of toast and a little scrambled egg, before getting up and telling them to tell him she had asked for him, if they saw him. As soon as Lavender was a safe distance away, and engaged in a lively chatter with Parvati, Ron emerged, rather red in the face and muttering what sounded suspiciously like a string of curses.  
"I swear, if that woman can't leave me alone, I'll get Ginny to hex her!" he said angrily as he returned to his breakfast, that was already half devoured by Lavender. Hermione looked at him haughtily and she was about to spit out a snappy reply, but decided against it, and got up roughly, and stormed away from the table, once again taking refuge in the library.

Left behind in the Great Hall Ron stared at Harry's facing looking genuinely confused.  
"Did I say something wrong?" he puzzled at Harry. Harry just shook his head hopelessly and suggested they go outside before returning to the common room to finish off the homework for the weekend.

* * *

His steps echoed eerily, as an extremely blond, almost white haired, boy walked through the cold, deserted dungeon corridor. He reached the common room entrance and muttered the password. Once inside he looked around at the half empty room. A fire was lit in the fireplace but the warmth it generated did not reach farther than a few feet into the room, leaving the rest of the room cold and drafty. He sat down in the armchair farthest from the fireplace and lifted a folded piece of parchment from a pocket in his robes, after shrugging his heavy cloak of. He unfolded the parchment roughly, staring at what had just earned him a detention in the library. Three hours of torture on a Sunday afternoon. Luckily it wasn't until next weekend. He still had tomorrow before another school week started. 

Someone flopped into the armchair next to his, but he didn't bother looking, still studying the piece of parchment intently, with a scowl on his lips and a cold frown on his forehead. He looked up haughtily when a smooth female voice shattered his focus.  
"Hello Draco." it crooned softly. He recognized it as Pansy's Slightly annoyed he replaced his supercilious expression with one showing no emotion, and simply nodded in recognition not even looking at her.  
"What's that?" she asked, nodding at the parchment in his hand, which he had been to slow to hide.  
"Nothing." he replied his voice tinted with dangerous anger. He stowed the parchment quickly into the pocket it came from, got up slightly, picked up his cloak, and told Pansy he was going for a walk. "Can I come?" she asked eagerly. A cold 'no' was all she got in reply. Draco slipped on his cloak and left Slytherin common room quickly.

As soon as the entrance was shut behind him he moved quickly through the dungeon corridors and up the many stairs until he was in the Entrance Hall. Dinner was long over and it was almost past curfew. A short bell sounded through the castle, warning students of the curfew. Draco, however did not start making his way back to the commom room, but continued through hall and through the great oak doors and out into the grounds. Striding through the shadows of the castle, until a cloud covered the moon, so as not to be seen, he made his way out of the shadows and followed the dirt road that lead through the gate with the winged boars. He knew he only had around 15 minutes before the gate and the front doors were closed. he hurried toward Hogsmeade Village, and once he was there he head for The Three Broomsticks Light glowed for the windows, radiating warmth and welcome. He pushed the door open quickly and surveyed the surprisingly crowded room. There was no one from Hogwarts, but he still closed his cloak and drew up his hood. Quickly he walked up to the counter, keeping his head down.

"A butterbeer." He said without any emotion. He felt the parchment he had been reading previously, crackle slightly in the pocket of his robes. The room was noisy and stuffy with the heat of many people crowded together. A bright, slightly spicy smell hung in the air, and smoke stung unpleasantly at his eyes. A bottle of butterbeer was pushed over the counter, and he grabbed it quickly, depositing the payment on the counter, and pushing his way through the crowd and out into the frosty winter air. Hiding the bottle under his cloak and keeping his hood up he walked back through the gate in quick strides, keeping to the side of the dirt road. He made it through the oak doors unseen and was back in the castle. Checking his watch, he realized it was just past curfew, he walked quietly through the halls that were not yet patrolled and made it to the dungeons without trouble.

Once safe in the common room, now considerably more full than before, he removed his cloak, avoided Pansy, his two cronies, and Blaise, going straight to the dormitory. The bottle of butterbeer that had been purchased was laid carefully on the bed, while he changed to He hid the roll of parchment, that had been the cause of his detention, in the top drawer of his bedside table. He reached for the bottle of butterbeer, but was interrupted by a haughty snort.  
"Don't think I didn't see you coming up here." said a tall boy, with high cheekbones. The boy moved from the entrance of the dormitory and over to Draco's bed. He looked at the bottle of butterbeer and snorted again. "Drinking, are we?" he said coldly. Draco grabbed the bottle quickly.  
"None of your business." he replied equally cold. He moved away from the bed, but Blaise blocked his path and grabbed the bottle.  
"If you are drinking you could at least do it with style." he sneered, "butterbeer has almost no alcohol in it"  
"Blaise, give it to me." Draco said quietly. Blaise refused. Draco whipped out his wand.  
"Accio butterbeer!" he half yelled. It happened so fast Blaise didn't have time to react. The dusty bottle slipped out of his fingers and into Draco's waiting grasp.  
"Consider yourself lucky." he whispered menacingly. Blaise snorted again but admitted his defeat by walking away towards the common room.

Draco hurried to the bathroom, eager to open the bottle, and once inside he secured the door behind him by locking it. Not that that was much use against the 'alohomora' charm, but he didn't expect people would come barging in if they saw the door was locked. Opening the bottle carefully, he set it down, sniffing it slightly before turning it upside down over the sink so all it's contents poured out. Except one. Plastered to the wall of the bottle, inside was a small piece of drenched parchment. It had camouflaged well while the bottle was full, as it's color matched the butterbeer's hue exactly, but now that the bottle was empty, it was quite easy to see. Draco smashed the bottle as quietly as he could, not very quietly at all, removed the small piece of parchment and waved the wand still in his hands, while muttering a quick 'reparo'. The tiny shards of glass zoomed back together and formed a quite unharmed, empty butterbeer bottle.

Taking the paper carefully in his hands, he placed the bottle in the corner of the small bathroom, he would deal with it later. It wasn't rare he found bottles in the corner of the bathroom. He hurried back to his four poster bed, blew slightly on the still soaked piece of parchment. He placed it in the drawer together with the detention parchment. Seized by a sudden drowsiness, he lay himself in his bed and drew the curtains together. He fell into a deep sleep immediately after closing his eyes.

Draco jerked awake suddenly. No light was coming through the dense curtains, that were pulled tightly around the bed. He separated the dark curtains slightly, staring out into the dark dormitory. Snores were issuing from both Crabbe's and Goyle's beds filling the otherwise silent dormitory. He crept noiselessly out of the bed and check his watch. 5:34 A.M. He slipped on a heavy cloak over his pyjamas and snuck silently out of the dormitory. He hurried through the cold common room, a few embers of yesterdays fire, still glowing in the fireplace. Leaving the common room, and sneaking into the dungeon corrider, he hurried up the stairs and through the Entrance Hall. Luck was on his side as he found the great oak doors unlocked, he slipped through them and followed the path he had taken yesterday. When he was almost at the gate he took a sharp right and no longer following a path, he let his feet take them where they wanted. Consumed in thoughts, he did not notice the Lake until it was only a few yards in front of him. He reached the Lake quickly, and sat down on the edge, letting his thoughts roam.

After a long while, he noticed the small light that was spreading on the horizon. Recognizing it as the sunrise in it's early stages, he got up quickly and rushed back to the castle, through the still unlocked oak doors, through the deserted Entrance Hall, down the flight of stairs , through the dungeon corridors, into the Slytherin common room and into the dormitory. Nobody had yet gotten up, as it was only 6:30 and Sunday was an occasion to sleep in. Draco relieved himself of his cloak, and walked quietly to the bathroom. The butterbeer bottle was gone, as he expected. Doubtlessly removed by house-elves. He crept back to his bed and eased himself into it with a sigh. He would catch a few more hours of sleep before breakfast.

* * *

**AN: First thing's first. This was written pro-HBP, but I've altered the plot of the 6th year, though some things from the book have been used. So. This is the first chapter of my dramione fan fiction! Please do review it, I love getting feed back! I know there is not really any fluff in here but it will come... Oh yeah, and I know my writing became a bit strained during Draco's bit... So yeah, please review! Writers live off of constructive criticism! I hope you enjoyed!**


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